Dissident

This painting came about after watching an interview with Ai Weiwei (pronounced: I wayway) by Jian Ghomeshi of CBC. It is a very powerful thirteen minutes. Do you know Ai Weiwei? Chances are if you don't know his name, you would know some of his art. He was the artistic consultant for the stunningly beautiful Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Anyway, Jian Ghomeshi of "Q" (best arts and culture programming ever! I'm such a fan) spoke with him in his studio in Beijing and it is captivating stuff. After watching his fascinating interview I was deeply moved. And I wanted to paint a response. Mixed into this painting are thoughts of chaos, the innocence of children, being monitored...even Weiwei's shirt (if you watch the interview you'll make the connection ; )
Note: Weiwei has been in the news a fair bit lately as the Art Gallery Of Ontario is holding a retrospective of his work. The show runs till October 27th, 2013. I'll blog about it after I see it!